


Point of Origin

by kusuriurikun



Series: Learning curve [3]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Alternate Universe, Feral Behavior, Gen, I swear this makes sense in context, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Pre-Canon, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, how to socialise a taboo noise homonculus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26092309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kusuriurikun/pseuds/kusuriurikun
Summary: Everything and everyone has a point where their function begins.  Even when one's own personal function is a matrix of variables.It's the evolution of said function that ultimately makes itinteresting.
Relationships: Hanekoma Sanae & Minamimoto Sho
Series: Learning curve [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888963
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	Point of Origin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JaynisKobb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaynisKobb/gifts).



> Originally inspired by discussions with JaynisKobb over Twitter and Discord over the implications of a _literal Taboo Noise homonculus_ and their socialization.

It’s morning, and Sho is at the WildKat with Kariya, and Hanekoma can’t help but overhear their conversation. 

Fortunately for everyone, they’re the only three in the cafe at the time.

“So, like, how long have you had those threads?”

Sho thinks. “...Pretty zetta sure I _always_ have. Been a constant of my function…”

Kariya laughs. “Ever since you got born, eh?”

Now it’s *Sho* laughing. “As much as I can calculate…” A mischievous grin shows.

“So, H. What WAS my point of origin like?”

Sanae Hanekoma actually manages to pale almost to the shade of gesso at this question, and takes a moment to compose himself before answering:

“Sho...you were absolute  _ hell _ as a child.”

And for the first time in a long time, the Producer of Shibuya says a little silent prayer to the Thrones and Choir and the Ineffable to the effect of:

_ Please, oh Powers,  _ **_don’t_ ** _ let him ask details. _

The two find Hanekoma’s expression more than a bit hilarious, but figure they best not press further. (Besides, Kariya had said he wanted Sho to meet Uzuki, and that was going to be...interesting.)

And Sanae Hanekoma breathes a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to have to have THAT particular conversation just yet.

* * *

Later, when the shop is closed for the day, Hanekoma is in the back room, and finds some old finger paintings and a terribly chewed-up Nylabone that had seen far better days. 

He wasn’t exactly entirely exaggerating, and there is a part of him that fears the day Sho remembers (if he ever does at all). Hanekoma doesn’t want him to lose how far he’s come.

He remembers it enough for the both of them, and--though he’ll never admit it--not all of it was entirely hell.

* * *

The day that the matrix now known as Sho Minamimoto comes into being is one where the WildKat does not open, and a sigil is drawn in paint and Imagination on the floor of the back room. Sanae’s not even sure this will work; he’s stitching seven broken hungry ghosts together to try to make a whole, and not even he can predict what will happen.

He is pleasantly surprised that the summoned result at least looks _human_ as he sculpts a man out of Taboo Noise harvested from all the directions of that strange boundary realm where they dwell.

He is less pleasantly surprised that upon taking the first breath that the creature (which somehow still has a Noise-tail at first, and is crouched on all fours) hisses and promptly  _ bites _ him, despite his own Intent in creation having included instructions  _ to be friendly towards him. _

_ Perhaps _ , Hanekoma thinks as he dislodges the feral child’s jaws from his right arm,  _ Taboo Noise have a different definition of “friendly”. _

* * *

The creature with the body of a man and the mind of a beast comes into being in abject confusion in a realm full of light and scent and sound, all of which is unfamiliar. 

The creature (who is somehow a man and a lion at the same time, and neither) has a vague awareness of something  _ alive _ in front of him, and the wild boy stands unsteadily on four legs in a body meant to walk on two, and does not at all understand how it is  _ here _ and not  _ elsewhere _ and so it bites in fear and confusion.

And the feral one eventually is made to stop biting, and is wrapped in  _ something _ that at first causes him to roar and scream but eventually he finds the sensation soothing.

He does not know what a blanket is yet. He does know whatever this thing is, it’s comforting to have around, and it’s soothing to bite, and at least the being he bit does not actually seem to be a threat upon further notice.

He notices that the being actually seems to be offering  _ food _ , and clumsily takes it out of his hand with his mouth, and discovers the joys of tuna for the first time before falling asleep in a blanket.

* * *

As the days go by, both the lion and the angel are having to learn quite a bit.

After more than once finding table legs gnawed on, Sanae finally breaks down and hits a pet store and buys several Nylabones and dog toys, figuring they would hold up better than most chew-toys for humans. (The kid definitely had  _ teeth _ .)

And the lion-boy...well, he’d found himself in a veritable  _ wonderland _ all strange and confusing and terrifying and hilarious all at once, between the rather strange body he was in and the riot of sensations he experienced.

If only he could get the man who smelled of coffee and paint and new leaves and a thousand other indescribable scents and just plain smelled of  _ comfort  _ to understand. But he doesn’t have body language as his kind does.

So more often than not--as his sleep schedule is when he feels the need to rest and his waking schedule is when he feels the need to eat or play or explore or have comfort--he feels an urge to wake his companion.

Even if it’s 3AM.

And as he doesn’t really have words, his method of waking Sanae Hanekoma is usually crawling into his bed, and crying out and trying to shake him awake, and if that doesn’t work, nipping him.

(He’s learned not to nip too hard. The man who smells of coffee and paint and new leaves and a thousand other things makes decidedly  _ unpleasant _ sounds when nipped too hard.)

And the man will groggily wake up, and say things the lion boy does not understand like  _ Hey, what’s the matter? Hungry?  _ Or  _ Did you have a nightmare, fella? _ Or  _ Ya bored? _

He can’t exactly understand the words, and sometimes it takes multiple tries for him to get his companion to know what he wants--what he  _ needs _ . Usually, though, they can figure it out.

Even if that  _ need _ is for him to pull very hard on the end of a chew toy and Sanae to pull on the other.

* * *

Sometimes the lion boy’s caretaker--companion--no, more than that (though again he doesn’t have words for it) asks him to do things that he doesn’t understand why. 

And sometimes his companion doesn’t  _ get  _ what he’s trying to say, and he can’t seem to make the one who smells of coffee and paint and fresh-cut grass understand, and there is screaming and wailing.

Two days ago, it was over why he could not just eat from a bowl, why he had to use the thing to feed himself even though holding things is something he’s...still not sure how to do. (Thumbs are a mystery; they don’t quite work like dewclaws.)

Today, it’s why he has to stay in the bedroom. He just wants to be with his person. He doesn’t  _ understand. _

Sanae hugs him, and tells him it won’t be long, and “shhh, Daddy will be back soon”.

Sanae Hanekoma doesn’t quite catch how he’s called himself  _ daddy _ , but eventually the wild boy calms down and goes to sleep, and he steps out into the Cafe to open for business.

* * *

About an hour later, Joshua shows up, and Hanekoma and Joshua have their usual conversations and Joshua has his usual rant about how Everything Is Boring And Dull and being Dramatic As Always, and then stops and asks:

“Rough night, Sanae? You look like something the cat dragged in…” And does that tittering teasing laugh of his.

“Eh...you know how it is. Got an art project I’ve been workin' on that’s kept me up late…”

“Ah…” Joshua nods, and expresses how he’d  _ love  _ to see this art project once it’s done, and after about two hours more practically floats off to have a friendly chat with the Conductor.

And with that, the WildKat closes for the day, and Sanae Hanekoma goes to the back room and his apartment…

To find that Sho (he’s started calling the little wild-child that; it’ll be easier for him to understand a one-syllable name) has completely  _ destroyed _ his bedding.

Two pillows and a down comforter are ripped asunder, at least one tatami mat has been bitten and drooled on...and Sho is sitting on the floor, VERY happy, making a strange chuffing noise that he does in lieu of a laugh...and is smiling.

Smiling, with a mouthful of feathers that falls out when he makes a happy screech because  _ his person...this “Daaa-deh”...is home. _

* * *

Later that night, young Sho discovers the joys of coffee.

More properly, a still-extremely-feral Sho who has just learned a few days ago how to move around on two legs figures out how door handles work, and this leads him to the cafe proper.

And from there he discovers some beans that smell a lot like his person (his  _ Daa-deh _ ) and--after some fumbling--gets the package open, eats them...and discovers they are absolutely wonderful. And eats another handful

And shortly after THAT, it’s as if everything is alight at once, and he sees his person chasing after him and it’s now a  _ game  _ where he’s...just a bit too quick to be caught, and sometimes it’s as if he can jump through space, and it’s complete exhilaration.

It will be some time before he’s even able to form the concept of  _ so zetta slow _ (much less express it in those words), but for now it’s fun.

And then it gets to be a bit  _ too  _ much, and he feels like he’s going to vibrate apart, and he screams and holds onto himself, and his human wraps a blanket around him and gently soothes him.

He doesn’t quite understand the words, but he understands comfort, and there’s a part that actually almost gets the idea that the strange noises that the human that smells of coffee and cut grass and paint makes have some sort of meaning.

Sanae installs childproof locks on the coffee storage the next day, which only last a week or so until he figures out how his hands work in full; the lion boy is a  _ surprisingly _ fast study.

* * *

Another day shortly after this, and Sho finds his person painting, and he is in utter fascination for two reasons.

One, he is seeing that his person is painting things--things that he’s actually seen!--and maybe  _ this  _ is a way he can actually get his person to understand.

Two, he’s noticing something new. Sho has been used to seeing in light and shadow and movement being important; now he can see something new that is  _ not  _ light or shadow or movement, and is strange and fascinating and exciting.

He tries to pat the art. Sanae doesn’t shoo him off, but gets out a set of finger paints, and gently shows the feral child how to use his hands to draw patterns, and draws some with Sho (including at least one picture of a cat) before he takes his own art outside to do a sketch for a mural.

When Sanae comes back twenty minutes later, the back room is a veritable disaster area. Fingerpaint is covering  _ everything _ \--the walls, the book counter, the door to his bedroom, parts of the  _ ceiling _ .

And his little feral hellion has proceeded to empty an entire linen basket on the floor, and is sleeping on top of it like a cat, cuddling a shirt Hanekoma uses when painting as CAT late at night in his guerilla art installations. And is somehow chuffing in his  _ sleep _ .

And he sees on the wall a crude drawing...of what looks like some cat-thing and a man, though it’s really hard to tell.

Sanae sighs, and chuckles, and covers up Sho in a blanket. He’ll wash him up later. The kid might be the veritable Apocalypse in human form, but he is just so cute right now he can’t even be angry.

* * *

Later on, Sho wakes up (and the laundry is put back in the basket and prioritized for wash), and Hanekoma tries to clean the holy terror up as best he can while his feral child tries to playfully “kill” the water.

“How’d you get paint on the ceiling, buddy? How’d you get it in your  _ hair? _ ”

Sho looks, and smiles, and--for the first time--actually gives not the strange chuffing noise like a lion trying to purr, but a laugh--a genuine, simple, laugh. And he tries to tell his human all about it, in the best imitation he can do of the strange noises his person uses to communicate like he uses smell.

Hanekoma unconsciously gives the babbling feral child an extra cuddle as he’s drying him off.

* * *

A few days later, there’s another tantrum...and a breakthrough.

Sho has decided to claim the shirt Hanekoma uses for outdoor graffiti excursions, but it’s in need of a wash...and that’s a problem.

Washing makes it smell less like his person, and this bit of cloth reminds him of his person, and when his person has to disappear this is a comfort.

And now his person is trying to take this  _ away _ . He doesn’t understand. He screams and hisses.

And Hanekoma is utterly puzzled on why Sho has suddenly decided his painting shirt is now his  _ woobie. _

“Hey...Come on, sport, can I have my shirt?”

Sho’s hackles rise and he hisses louder. 

“I...I know, Sho, but I  _ need  _ that shirt, come on…”

The feral child starts to have tears with the hissing. His person just doesn’t  _ understand _ how important this is.

Hanekoma stops. It’s been a while since he’s seen Sho  _ this  _ upset.

“Shhhh…” Sanae gently ruffles Sho’s hair. “What’s the matter?”

And Hanekoma actually witnesses something he hasn’t before...the hissing stops and is replaced by soft crying.

“Hey. It’s okay. Tell Daddy what’s got you upset, it’s okay…”

And that manages to complete the equation--for the first time, Sho actually gets the clear concept of words, and  _ names _ , having a meaning. 

He looks at Hanekoma. Looks at the shirt. Tries very, very hard to make the word that means  _ my person who smells of coffee and paint and fresh mown grass and who is my world. _

_ _

“Daaaaaa…” Sho says, and sniffs long in the shirt, before clumsily hugging Hanekoma, sobbing. “Daaaa…”

Soon it’s not just Sho who’s sobbing.

He gets to keep the shirt as a woobie, and in time gets some other hand-me-downs when he’s less likely to coat them in fingerpaint.

* * *

Actually figuring out  _ words _ is a bit of a revelation, and the finger-painting actually helps get new words down. 

Among other things, Sho discovers that he can in fact still slap  _ Daaa _ on the face at 3am, but nipping is hardly ever required because he can say  _ Play!  _ If he’s bored or  _ Hungry _ if he wants food or just call  _ Daaa _ if he just needs a good cuddle.

Though sometimes Sanae has no idea just  _ where _ Sho learns things..

One day as they’re finger-painting, Sho draws  _ something _ , then in another colour of fingerpaint rakes his hand across as if to claw.

“Kill!” He beams proudly, and laughs.

“So, buddy, whatcha kill?” Hanekoma (the doting parent) is playing along.

Sho playfully points to  _ Hanekoma. _

Sanae’s blood runs cold.  _ Maybe making a Taboo Noise homonculus wasn’t such a good idea in retrospect, even if he is damned cute… _

“You...you killed…” Hanekoma can’t bear to say  _ my son is a monster who’s killed people. _

Sho enthusiastically nods. “Mm-hmm!”

“Is...is that the only thing you’ve killed?”

And...then Sho starts pointing at other things. The toy mouse. The cats he sees in a window. Himself.

And then he sees a moth that’s flown in, and makes a running leap for it and catches it like he’s a cat himself.

“Kill!”

And Sho laughs as if he’s made the funniest joke in the world.

And shortly after that, Sho sees a bumblebee outside and starts practically shrieking “KILL!” and jabbing at the picture he’s drawn and practically pulling Hanekoma to the window...and Hanekoma realises just what his young feral charge was talking about.

Later that day, Hanekoma invests in some picture books. Sho was going to  _ definitely  _ need to learn how living creatures were different outside the Noise Realm lest it get him in trouble.

* * *

Whilst he never quite gets the concept that  _ animals  _ are different from  _ humans  _ are different from  _ Noise _ , he does eventually grasp the concept of things being at least perceived as different by humans, and his vocabulary gradually expands.

This doesn’t always go gracefully, with at least one point where Sho is stuck on the concept of all mammals being in the set of  _ cat _ once he discovers what a cat is. Humans were cats. He was a cat. Cats were cats. Bees...probably not cats.

But it sorts out over time, and eventually he starts expressing himself in a...mostly normal manner, in that he actually is using utensils most of the time to eat, and is actually able to communicate (though he certainly doesn’t think like most people, and there is still something very feral behind the eyes and just beneath the skin). 

The shirt that was a woobie is eventually traded for old threads of Hanekoma’s that smell of him faintly still.

And Hanekoma sits, with his wild boy (who is slowly becoming a man) resting his head in his lap still sleeping like a kitten even now. Knowing his young charge won’t remember his early times. It’s too dangerous, especially for what he’s needing him for.

He’s actually wishing he didn’t have to put Sho through this, but even if Sho is designed to not remember, _he’ll_ remember for both of them.

* * *

Hanekoma is snapped out of his memories by a knock on the door, and Sho making a hasty comment to Kariya of “Yeah, it’s been seriously zetta awesome...I did tell my old m- uh...H that I’d overlap sets of time for a bit…”

“...did you just call Mr. H your  _ old man _ ?”

“Multiply that by zero, Kariya…” Sho wags a finger as Hanekoma opens the door.

And so Sho settles in per usual, pretty much gushes on about how Kariya is actually a really zetta awesome individual and groks art and that visual kei stuff is cool and it’s awesome how him and Uzuki get along even if Uzuki is “zetta scary”, and absentmindedly starts snacking on a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Hanekoma ha-ha-only-seriously comments, “You know, I’ll have to charge for those…”

“Yeah, whatever, _dad_ …” The words slip out of Sho’s mouth before he freezes, dead silent...and two seconds later has Hanekoma in front of him.

“What...did you call me?”

Sho is completely silent, in shock.  _ I am zetta fucked. I am **fractally** fucked. I am fucked on every possible level of resolution. Sho, you stupid hectopascal… _

And not even as long as √ 2  seconds later, he finds himself in a bear hug from Hanekoma, who is openly smiling warmly...and after a while (considerably longer than  √ 2  seconds later) he finds himself clumsily returning the hug. This actually feels kinda zetta nice; there’s a part of him he didn’t know existed that feels like it  _ missed _ this…

And just outside the window, one Joshua Kiryu is taking pictures of something he’d never thought he’d actually see. Yes, there would be the teasing, but...okay, this was now something new and interesting and  _ fascinating. _

**Author's Note:**

> Ohgod this is going to be the fic that officially gets me Fired from the TWEWY fandom. I know it.
> 
> I am not certain I particularly care as I had fun with it. :D (Though someone else is probably going to have to write the Fractal Bastard in this series; I just...can’t get into Joshua’s head.)
> 
> This particular one...well...I had pointed out (in an initial draft of “Finding Your Beauty” I’d shared with Jaynis) that in essence his Sho is a bit of a Taboo Noise Homonculus (in the original alchemical sense, of note) and...well...this turned into “exploring implications of the socialisation of a Taboo Noise Homonculus”, and (over multiple online convos with Jaynis and AliaMael) this resulted.
> 
> I will admit that I have had a bit of a fascination with the concepts of both the alien and a fascination with feral children, and honestly this concept does let me play around with both in a way--and if it allows for some Crowning Moments of Heartwarming that Sho desperately deserves in life, then you know what, I’ll happily drive the bus full of plotbunnies.
> 
> Even if it is going to probably get me zetta fired from the fandom, lol.
> 
> OF NOTE: The sketches are from JaynisKobb, and in part are inspiration for the work :3 The whole series at [their Twitter post](https://twitter.com/Jaynis_Kobb/status/1297797738399174656)


End file.
